The Summer of Crellie
by the.huffalump
Summary: I've always wondered what went on between Craig and Ellie when they started "hanging out" over the summer between season 4 and season 5, so I created this story to find out and okay, maybe I added some stuff . Final chapter posted! Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

What would've happened if the summer had gone differently?

a|parallel|of time not shown.

The Summer of Crellie.

Chapter 1

He left me. For Wasagea Beach. Great.

Needless to say, I wasn't exactly looking forward to the summer of my 17th year. No boyfriend, best friend in Europe, and no summer job. I was looking at a whole lot of boredom, free time, and no cash flow here. And I definitely was not expecting what I _did_ do that summer.

It was a normal, Canadian, 4th day of Summer day. My apartment was barely warm, but my fan was whirring around like crazy and my tank top was pasted to my skin with sweat.

I felt like a regular princess.

My princessy self lay on my bed, hands propping up my head, watching the blades on the fan swirl round and round. Occasionally, I would stick my hand out to hear the funny noise it made.

That's when I thought, _I need to actually __do__ something today._ I'd already eaten the whole tube of cookie dough, a tub of Ben & Jerry's, and my entire secret stash of ketchup chips, and I was out of comfort food. _Yup._ I decided. _I'm going to get out of this apartment today. _

I dialed Marco's cell. "Marco?"

"Hey, Ellie."

"Listen. I need to get out of the house today. Got any ideas? Wanna see the new incredibly stupid _Clown Academy_?"

"While mindless film has _always_ been my thing, El," Marco started, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "I'm taking summer courses and class starts at 3. But I'm meeting Paige, Hazel, Jimmy, and Craig at The Dot later, if you want to come."

"Uh..." Ellie hesitated at the thought of spending an hour with Paige and Hazel. _I'm going to get out of this apartment today,_ she reminded herself. "Sure. That sounds...great."

"Fantastic! Meet you there four-ish?"

"Yeah. Tell Paige and Hazel I can't wait!"

"Ha-ha, Ellie. Oh! I'm gonna be late! Bye!"

"Yeah, see ya."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own absolutely NOTHING.

* * *

Chapter 2

I jumped off the bus and ran inside The Dot to see Paige, Hazel, Craig, and Jimmy sitting over at a corner table.

"Hey! Where's Marco?"

"Running late, uh-gain...get used to it, hun." Paige explained while tapping her pink fingernails against the table.

"Great." I grabbed the empty chair next to Craig.

We sat there in silence for a bit. Paige drumming her manicured fingers, Hazel checking over at Paige to triple-check that she wasn't doing anything wrong, Craig nodding his head into the distance, and Jimmy, slowly letting out a big breath of air.

"...So, what's up?" I said after the silence began to drive me insane.

The others looked up at me like, _Thanks for trying, but I don't think that's going to __help. _

"C'mon. We don't need Marco to have a conversation." I tried once again.

This time, their looks said something more along the lines of, _Um, yes we do._

"I've been working on some new songs." Craig offered.

"'Kay. Great. How about you, Hazel? Been up to anything lately?"

"Um. No. It's been like, four days since school ended. What did you expect? Miracles?" Hazel, who seemed a bit grouchy, sniped.

I nodded my head and gave up the "conversation" thing for a while.

Then Marco_ finally _decided to show up, flustered and scattering papers, but here just the same.

"Our savior hath arrived." Paige murmured underneath her breath.

"Hey, sorry I'm late, guys! Okay, so dish. What's new?"

"Physio is getting easier for me. I think I'm ready to step up to..."-Jimmy.

"Get. This. I heard Heather Sinclair's daddy is going to try to buy her way into Banting!"-Hazel.

"Does that bitch have to copy _everything_ I do?"-Paige.

"I've been working on some new songs."-Craig.

"Shut _up_, Craig!"-Everyone.

And before we knew it, everyone was talking so much that we almost forgot to order and Spinner almost threatened to kick our asses out of the restaurant.

But, alas, it could not last forever, soon Jimmy had to run off to Physio, Hazel and Paige had a party to get to, and Marco had more classes. Damn Marco and his over-achievement.

So, Craig and I were left with empty chairs and six plates of leftovers.

"I call Jimmy's onion rings." Craig reached in front of me to pick up Jimmy's plate. As he was pulling the plate over towards him, I grabbed at it.

"Oh no you don't, wise guy!" I stuffed and onion ring in my mouth. I put my face right in front of his. "Hah." I flaunted.

Craig jammed one in his mouth. "Hah yourself." He said, mouth full.

I made sure to finish my onion ring before I started laughing. "What are we? Six?"

"I don't know, I'm pretty sure my sister Angie's a bit more mature."

"Eat your onion ring before you spew it all over the place." I said, clasping my hand over his mouth.

This was the start of a beautiful friendship.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I _wish_ I owned this. Then I wouldn't be stuck posting fan fictions and this would be the actual Degrassi. But, I own NOTHING.

* * *

Chapter 3

By the time I got home about two hours later, I'd decided something: Craig was not such a bad guy. I don't know what ever got me thinking he was such an evil person(Ashley), but now that I actually knew the guy, I think he's just swell.

You see what he does to me? _Swell! _I just said _swell!_

We just had so much...chemistry. And he was _hilarious! _I just knew I had to hang on to Craig until he goes off for the rest of the summer with some big-shot music thing.

So, the next day, I called him.

"Hi, Craig? Have you seen the new _Clown Academy_ yet?"

"Hey, El. And no, in case you haven't noticed, my girlfriend is in England, Marco's working his pants off over the break, Jimmy's busy with Hazel, and Spinner...well...you know." Craig answered.

"Ah. So I see we're stuck in a similar situation here. Missing both boyfriend and best friend."

"Yup, so it looks like we're going to have to get substitutes for the summer. Substitute friends, I mean. You hiring?"

"I happen to have an opening for the 'best friend' position—maybe I could pencil you in for 8:00 at the mall?"

"It's a date."

"Fantastic. So. See you then."

"Bye." He hung up.

"Bye." I hung up.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

We met up at the mall's theatre at 7:45—I guess I _was _a little eager (and it's not like I had anything else to do) so I was there by around 7—and ordered a huge bucket of popcorn and tortured Paige a little bit by changing our minds on what we wanted to drink—twice. After Paige called us a few bad words and almost got caught flipping us off by her manager, we high-fived and snickered our way into the theatre.

I can still remember the movie like it was yesterday. And I don't even like the _Clown Academys. _When he grabbed the back of my neck and I squealed. The way he laughed as I whispered something cynical and clown-related in his ear. When we randomly broke out in laughter at a line that wasn't meant to be funny. When his hand touched mine searching for popcorn-ammo at the bottom of the nearing-empty popcorn bucket. The way he looked at me when we were escorted out of the theatre.

When he told me, "Wow, I normally don't like _Clown Academy_, but _that_ was awesome." Then he offered me a ride home.

I accepted and followed him into the lot. "So, What'd you steal from your stepdad's lot for this occasion?"

"Why? What did Marco tell you?" Craig looked back at me. "Actually, I have a lovely little convertible this evening. I actually did take this one from Joey's lot. I figured I should get a good first impression in with my new best friend." He looked down at me and smiled as he rummaged through his pockets to find his keys.

"Nice." I said, running my hand along his car's shiny black and silver finish. I opened the passenger door and climbed in. "And Joey actually let you borrow this?"

"Surprisingly, yes." Then Craig thought, _I always had a feeling Joey was not too fond of Ashley, so "not fond" that he was anxious to lend me one of his nicer cars in hope that I'd impress this new girl and dump Ashley's sorry ass. But I knew Ellie isn't like that. I have to work to earn a laugh from her, a shiny convertible won't impress her._

_Not that I...want to._

But soon all these thoughts were behind him as we were cruising down the highway, blasting Nirvana as the cool night wind blew through our hair. I laughed and threw my hands up.

"Aaaaaaaah!" I screamed for no reason.

Craig looked over at me and copied my actions exactly. His arms flew in the air and we both screamed as the car swerved.

We were both cracking up now. "Keep _both_ hands on the wheel at all times, mister!" I yelled through my laughter.

Somehow, Craig was able to bring me all the way to my apartment without having a major collision. He stopped abruptly next to the sidewalk, we both jerked forward and fell back. We hadn't stopped laughing since we got in the car. We just sat there for a while, laughing, trying to settle down, and then breaking into little laughing fits and starting the cycle all over again. My throat felt sore, like it had been scrubbed, but I didn't really mind. _This is what a natural high is. This is as higher than I could possibly ever get._ I was high on night, this car, Craig. I was definitely high on Craig.

"Okay, okay," I said, gasping for air, "I've got to go now. I don't want you to get home too late." I started gathering my stuff and grabbed the door handle, ready to open it and hop out. {time rift}

"Wait!" Craig grabbed my upper arm and pulled me into a hug. My knees went to jelly. I moved in to kiss his cheek, but at the same time he went in to kiss me, and then we sorta...met in the middle.

At first we both lurched back and both kinda had a _what was __that?_ moment. I think I liked whatever _that_ was, though. Because I came back for more. And I guess Craig liked _that_, too, because he didn't argue.

And things sorta went crazy from there. He wasted no time getting down to business and his hand was up the back of my shirt before you could have said "WHOA, THERE, WE'RE BOTH DATING OTHER PEOPLE". And I guess in my natural high, I couldn't have even processed those words because the next thing I know, I'm inside my apartment wondering: _Oh my god, what did I just do?_


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own this.

**Chapter 5**

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: Marco, listen, I need to talk...um, did you change your username?

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: Yeah. Like it?

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: Uh, well, it's...it. And I was wondering where the damn peanut butter went...

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: I ATE IT.

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: Yeah, I got that. From your...username...ANYWAY, um, last night, Craig and I went out to see the latest Clown Academy, the one that you wouldn't see with me.

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: Ooh! Sounds juicy! Spill.

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: Well, it went great. We had tons of fun, got Paige pissed off, kicked out of the theatre...

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: Sounds like a lovely night.

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: It was lovely, but then Craig offered me a ride home, and I was reeeeeealy sick of taking the bus everywhere, so I took him up on it. And, well, then we were having such a great time, he borrowed a convertible from Joey, and we both got really caught up in the moment...

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: You didn't.

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: I did. Well, HE did. He started it.

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: All the way?

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: No. But almost. We rounded 2nd, I think...

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: Wow. I was right. Jui-cy.

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: Um, HELP? I just reached SECOND with a guy who has a GIRLFRIEND, who happens to be my BEST FRIEND, when I have a BOYFRIEND. Please, Marco? Have any gay-guy wisdom for me?

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: Honestly? Do you love Craig?

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: Well, I don't know.

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: Then don't let this get any farther until you're sure you do. You don't have to stop being friends with the guy, just don't full-out pull a Manny until you're sure.

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: Thanks. Now what do I do about the fact that I just cheated on my boyfriend with a guy who was taken?

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: You don't. I mean, Ashley is in England, and Sean might as well be. They can't expect you two to wait around for them to come back. I'm sure they saw something like this coming.

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: Marco, why is it that the things you say are so simple, yet I can never think of them?

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: Because I'm good.

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: True that. Oh, and Marco, I forgot to tell you the worst thing.

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: What's that, El?

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: I liked it. A lot.

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: Ooh, now there's a real predicament.

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: I'm an awful person.

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: You are not, Ellie! Oh! I just noticed the time!

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: You've got class. Bye.

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: I've got class! Bye!

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: And thanks for the wisdom.

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: Any time, Ellie.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi.

**Chapter Six**

I was taking Marco's advice and wasn't going to start avoiding Craig just because of what happened. Now, I had to think for a while if I was going to because I liked it.

But I apparently decided against it because here I was, hanging upside-down from a chair in his garage, nodding my head along to a song he was playing while sitting on the floor facing me.

"That was _really_ good." I said after he finished.

"You liked it?"

"It couldn't possibly get better," I smiled at him. "I like acoustics." Then I wriggled my way right-side-up because the all the blood rushing to my head was making me feel dizzy.

"Yeah, well, lately acoustics's all I've been able to do, with...y'know..." He looked at the ground, trying to block out the memory of turning around and finding one of his best friends on the ground, bleeding. I put my hand on his shoulder and we had a little moment of silence for That Day.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing you're a great one-man act." I looked him in the eyes. "You've already got your number one fan."

He nodded, and as he did, his face got a little closer to mine. And he just stayed there. Looking at me, breathing in and out until there was all this hot air in front of our faces. I think my eyes were starting to steam up because my vision got all cloudy. The dizziness from when I was hanging upside down came back and blood rushed to my face.

It was like Craig was turning my whole world upside down.

And I liked it.

We sat there for a while, just staring at each other, each waiting for someone to make the first move.

And it turns out Joey was first. "Oh, hey! Sorry, kids! Lemme just...get out of your way." He smiled sheepishly as he scooted back into the house and shut the door behind him. When he slammed the door, we both sort of fell back, me reclining in the chair, Craig leaning away from me on the floor.

"Okay, so..." Craig said.

"So." I said, brushing invisible dust off my knee. "Great song."

"Yeah, thanks..." He stared off into a corner with a confused look on his face.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

A few weeks later, me and my inseparable substitute best friend were at The Dot waging a late-night onion ring war.

"Hey!" I plucked an onion ring out of my hair. "Are you trying to play _dirty_ with me?" I looked at him with an exaggerated look of surprise plastered across my face. He answered my question by throwing a perfectly-aimed onion ring straight into my wide-open mouth.

I chewed thoughtfully. "Eh...not their best work. I'll give it a 7."

"What? Okay, c'mon, let me try." He opened his mouth and I tossed one inside. "What are you? Crazy? That's freaking delicious! 10!"

"No, they were _so_ much better last time. 7." I grinned.

"Are you kidding me? 10!" Then he started tickling me. As if that would sway _my_ totally impartial vote.

I am a super ticklish person, it's my one kryptonite. (Okay, one of my many kryptonites.) But Craig's tickling felt different from most tickling. It sent chills up my spine and made my face go hot at the same time.

I pushed his hands away, feeling a bit overwhelmed. "Tickling?_ Really_?" He grinned at me and reached his hands back over to begin tickling me again.

Then we heard thunder crack outside.

"Oh crap." We looked at eachother. I bolted towards the windows. Yup. There's a thunderstorm a-brewing. Thick, dark grey clouds crowded the sky, lightning striking a couple miles away.

Craig grabbed my hand. "Well, come on, Ellie! What are you waiting for?"

"Um, should we wait until it clears up a bit? Hang out here and continue our onion ring war?" I gestured towards the mess we left at our table.

"C'mon, El!" He dragged me out the door and into the street.

"So what lovely vehicle did you procure to get here?"

"Actually, I walked today." Craig turned his head shot a huge smile at me.

"I hate you." I smiled back and he squeezed my hand.

Within seconds, a light drizzle formed, spritzing us with a warning signal of what was sure to come soon.

"Craig! Come on! Let's just jump inside this café until the rain stops!" I would've gestured to the little café at the corner, but my hand couldn't let go of his.

"And miss _this_? Come on, Ellie! Grow some!" He laughed and broke away from my hand. Craig tilted his head back, stuck his tongue and arms out, and span in circles. Right there, in the middle of the street.

I started laughing. I couldn't help it. Now, if anybody else would've been doing it, I would've said they looked stupid. But Craig...that was a different matter entirely. I ran up to him and jumped on his back just as the rain really starting falling. He caught me just in time and I kissed him on the cheek. He ran over to the street corner where a lamp post covered a small area with yellowish light.

Here he put me down, put my face in his hands, and kissed me. Deliberately, unmistakably, perfectly. And I kissed him back. Then I pushed away, just for a second.

"Friends?" I asked him.

"Substitute best friends forever." He said, then leaned in for another kiss.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I don't own ANYTHING.

**Chapter Eight**

I woke up the next morning groggy and in serious need of a caffeinated beverage.

_Jeez, how late was I out with Craig yesterday?_ I just remembered leaving his place at about ten to go get some snacks at The Dot...

And then it all came back.

I remembered the rain. I remembered the kiss. I remembered sprinting down the sidewalk all the way to my apartment. Kissing whenever we ran underneath the awnings poking out of the store fronts, laughing as the hot summer rain pelted us relentlessly while we ran by the light of the streetlamps.

By the time we reached my apartment, we were both exhausted, out of breath, and in the moment. That's when he kissed me goodnight on my doorstep and watched the door open and shut, me disappearing inside.

I remembered closing the door behind me, checking back once to see if he was still there. And he was. I remembered doing the totally cliché slide-butt-down-door-until-I'm-sitting-on-the-floor thing.

And I remembered the last word I said before I went to bed.

"Wow."


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything having to do with Degrassi.

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

_Mmm..._"It's bikini season in Wasagea." I said, leaning in for a kiss.

"British accents." Craig mumbled, wrapping his arms around me.

We pressed against eachother, neither of us wanting to let go, both of us knowing we should. He deepened the kiss and ran his fingers down my spine. The trail he left behind tingled.

He leaned over, pulling at my half-off shirt as I pulled at his. Then Joey walked in.

"Um, uh...um." He stated articulately as Craig and I pulled our shirts back over our bodies, embarrased as hell and making mental notes to do this at my place. He held out the phone he was holding. "It's Ashley. She's er...calling from...well, you...um..." Joey handed Craig the phone and walked out of the garage.

"He-ey, Ashley. What's up? How's England been treating you?" He fell back on the chair next to him. "Yeah, I'm doing fine." He listened. "I miss you too."

I felt like dirt. I felt so low, shallow, disgusting, dirty, evil, conniving, I'M KISSING MY BEST FRIEND'S BOYFRIEND! Ugh.

"Me too."

She just said "I love you." Crap. I picked up my stuff and walked over towards the door out of the garage.

"Wait, where are you going? Oh, no, not you, I'm talking to Angie. Sure, I'll tell her you said hi."

"I'm going to leave you with your girlfriend. Who knows? I might even check up on my boyfriend. It _is _bikini season, and you can never be too careful—ya never know when some skank might come along and your boyfriend while his girlfriend's in another city."

"Ellie!" He pressed the phone against his chest this time.

"Goodbye, Craig." I closed the door and started punching Sean's number into my phone.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Degrassi.

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

I slammed the apartment door behind me. Aggrivation swarmed through me. I had just ended a very uneventful, boring conversation with Sean. And then we broke up.

I broke it to him after a long moment of awkward silence, "Sean," I sighed, "you still like Emma, don't you?"

"What? Ellie, that's crazy. I broke up with her. I'm with _you _now."

"No, you're not, Sean. _You_ are in Wasagea. But honestly, Sean, our relationship was nice while it lasted, but I don't think either of us ever really thought of us as anything more than a relationship. We both used eachother as a way to start fresh. I had just dated a gay guy, and you stole Snake's laptop, and we were both sick of all the crap that came with relationships. So we started one so that we'd both have a clean slate. It's the truth, Sean, and you know it." I had finally gotten that off my chest.

"You're right." He said after a long pause.

"I know."

"So what now? Do we...break up?"

"I think that's what's best. Goodbye, Sean."

"Bye, Ellie."

We hung up.

I had said the truth. We were trying to stay fresh by being together, but instead, we'd just grown stale.

So now I had no boyfriend and I was seeing a guy who had a girlfriend who happened to be my best friend.

The funny thing is, I don't know if the situation got better or worse.

Yeah, yeah...FML.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

I woke up the next day never wanting to see his face again.

So I decided to take a sick day from having a life and returned to the vegetable life I left a month and a half ago.

When I finished my third episode of _Friends_ and second Pringles container, I had to remove my ass from the couch to refuel on junk. Gah...but alas, when I stumbled over to the pantry, it was empty. Gahh...that meant I had to get dressed and drag myself grocery shopping.

And I had just left the corner grocery when I turned out of the store and smacked some random bypasser with my bacon (literally, it was the Canadian kind).

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!"

"I'm okay..." He brushed himself off and looked up at me. "Oh, hey, Ellie." Spinner mumbled.

"Hi...Spinner." Oooh, this was awkward.

He scratched at the back of his neck. "Um, so could I..." he pointed to the entrance I was blocking. "It's Kendra's birthday and I need to pick up some ice cream."

"Oh, yeah, sorry." I stepped aside to let him pass. And then something hit me—something crazy, as it usually was nowadays. "Hey, Spin, could I...come with you? There's something I need help with."

He turned around. "And you're going to ask _me_, the King of Screwups, to help you?"

I nodded.

"Wow. Then you must really be desperate. Right this way." He gestured towards the door and I followed him.

We walked through the frozen foods section and I shivered.

"Listen, Spin, I'm in trouble. I've done horrible, horrible things that I regret entirely and there's no way to take them back."

"Yeah, join the club." He said, not looking up from the two tubs of ice cream he was comparing in his hands.

"I hooked up with Craig. And he's still going out with Ashley." I blurted it out before I could talk myself out of it.

Spinner looked up at me. "Whoa. Seriously?" Then he muttered into the vanilla, "He _is_ the man."

I laughed. "I _heard_ that!"

He smiled and walked over to the dairy section.

I stopped smiling and massaged my temples. "C'mon, Spin, what do I do? This is the _second_ time he's cheated on Ash, and this time, it's with her best friend."

"Well, there's nothing much you can do, this one's all up to Craig. You've gotta make sure the man makes up his mind. And he might do it this time, considering how crappy the whole Ash-Manny thing turned out." He grimaced. "One thing I learned from _that_ is girls are _not_ a sampler."

I scoffed at him. "Sampler?"

"Never mind. I learned my lesson." He grabbed whipped cream and headed to the register. "Listen, Ellie, do whatever you want. Listen to your heart. That's the only thing that always knows what's best. God, I sound like some sort of chick guru. I've really got to get back to the gym and stop inhaling Kendra's perfume." He shook his head.

"That actually sounds nice." I put my hands together and bowed to him. "Thank you, wise chick guru Spinnette."

"You are welcome, my young grasshopper." He bowed back. "Now go get your—er Ashley's—man."

I shook my head and with that nugget of wisdom from a guy nobody trusts, I ran out the door and began sprinting to Craig's house, bacon in hand.

I didn't hear Spinner mumble, "Craig owes me big time."


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything.

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

I jogged to his house, barely feeling my legs. I floated to the door, feeling bubbly and lighter than champagne.

Craig answered, curly hair touseled and still wearing pajama pants, just like I would've been if I hadn't been suffering from lack of junk food.

"Ellie?"

"Craig!" I grabbed his face in between my hands, pulling his face near mine. "I love you." I kissed him. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed back. And we stood there, on his doorstep, waiting for Joey to show up any second. I wasn't going to let go this time. I wanted him, he wanted me, that was all I needed. I was here, this was now. He was now.

I walked inside and slammed the door shut behind me by leaning my back against it. He let go for a second, grabbed on to my hand and led me to the garage. My stomach continued doing backflips.

For once, I lost all thought and reasoning. I became a slave to my feelings and let them do whatever the hell they wanted.

I surrendered.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:** I do not own these characters or Degrassi.

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**Chapter Thirteen**

"I love you, too." He whispered into my ear.

I allowed myself a few more moments to just feel before I actually processed thought.

"I broke up with Sean."

"Oh."

"What about Ashley?"

"What about her?"

"We can't keep doing this behind her back."

He took a while to answer back."I've already cheated on her, and I promised her I wouldn't hurt her this time."

"Well, the longer you two are together, the longer you'll be cheating on her. I'm not going to let you have the best of both worlds or any of that shit. I'm not going to be another Manny. You're going to choose."

"I..." Craig looked at me...anger, confusion, sadness all clouded his face. Hiding something underneath. "I'll...talk to Ashley."

I looked up at him. The look on his face made me feel rotten inside. "I can't do this." I shook my head and got up from the chair I was sitting in. "I can't be some sort of evil, homewrecking, boyfriend-stealing bitch, and we _can't _do this anymore." I grabbed my bag of bacon and started heading towards the door.

"Ellie..." Craig started.

"I've really enjoyed my time with you, Craig, but I think I'm enjoying it too much."

"I just can't...break up with her." He said it like it involved him eating rusty nails.

"And you won't. She's your security blanket and you're hers, and _I'm_ not going to be the slut to break that." I thought for a second, then turned around to look at him. "Why don't you call Manny up for a reunion?"

"Ellie, it's not like that!" He grabbed my wrist as I turned around to leave. "Please, Ellie."

I looked back at him. "No, Craig. It _is _like that. Except I'm going to learn from Manny's mistake and I'm not going to let you lie to me as long as she did. Craig, none of this ever happend. _We_ never happend. Goodbye."

He let go of my wrist.

"And don't talk to me again."

"I wasn't lying, El. I love you. That's not going to change, no matter who I'm with."

And I left his garage, walked out of his house, and made it all the way back to my apartment before I broke out crying.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything from Degrassi.

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen**

He kept his promise and I'd kept mine. For the rest of the month, we didn't speak two words to eachother. Well, other than:

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: Craig says he misses you.

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: Mhm.

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: He also wishes you'd stop ignoring his calls.

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: Mhm.

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: And texts.

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: Mhm.

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: And when he comes by your apartment, he'd appreciate it if you'd stop closing all the shutters and turning the lights off because he knows you're in there.

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: You're talking to him right now, aren't you?

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: Well, YOU WON'T. Ellie, the guy's sorry. How many times does he have to say it?

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: YOU'RE TAKING HIS SIDE? Marco, I thought you were my friend!

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: I'm both of your friends, don't make me choose sides. And anyway, he can't break up with Ashley-

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: You guys are all the same. Just in it for the cheap sex.

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: Wait, WHAT? I thought you guys had a one-time thing!

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: Uh, no...

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: ELLIE! HE HAS A GIRLFRIEND!

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: YOU SAID IT DIDN'T MATTER, THAT SHE SHOULD'VE EXPECTED IT.

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: THAT WAS BACK WHEN YOU SAID YOU GOT TO SECOND, SECOND COULD BE EXPECTED. HOME RUNS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE WHEN ONE PERSON IS DATING SOMEONE ELSE.

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: I KNOW! I SUCK! DO HAVE TO RUB IT IN?

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: Oh my God, I am going to kill Craig. BRB.

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: AND I'LL BE HERE... oops, capslock...

* * *

"Craig, is what Ellie just told me true?" I was practically foaming at the mouth.

"Well, how am I supposed to know?"

"She said you guys did...more than just a one-time incident." Fuh-lipping furious.

"Oh. Well, yeah."

"WHAT ARE YOU _THINKING_, CRAIG? DO YOU WANT A REPEAT OF THE MANNY THING, CRAIG?" There was now so much spittle on the reciever that it was dripping.

"Jeez! Calm down, Marco!" I had _no idea_ how he could be so mellow.

"Calm. Down. You need to_ slow down_, Craig, or before you know it, you'll be a father!"

"Marco, it's not like that!"

"GAH." I scoffed into the phone.

"I love her, Marco." He said underneath his breath.

"Yeah, you loved Manny, too. She was_ THE ONE!_" I sort of yelled in a sarcastic-mocking tone as I flailed my arms around to emphasise.

"I never loved Manny. It was never her. I was...young and stupid then."

"Oh, well, how does it feel to be forty, Craig?"

"What can I say? One-and-a-half years is the new thirty."

"Listen, Craig. Just _stay away_ from Ellie, okay? She does not need more drama in her life than she already has. She's been doing great lately and I don't need any forbidden romances screwing that up for her."

"Why not? Weren't Romeo and Juliet the perfect couple? And Juliet was engaged."

"And you'd know, if you actually finished the play, that they both die in the end."


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything.

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen**

A month passed by and Marco stopped forwarding Craig's messages to me, and his class schedule loosened up, so he was able to meet me at The Dot every once in a while and caught up on his Clown defficiency at the theatre. Ashley e-mailed me a lot more often and it was great to hear from her. I never really started up any IM conversations because those things are too random and you never know what sort of crazy stories of _Hey, Ash, I slept with your boyfriend. Have you finally gotten used to scones?_ Other than the sopping-with-guilt e-mails I wrote, things actually went pretty smoothly for me in through most of August. But with the end of August comes a new school year and new problems. Namely, Craig. It was going to be hard to avoide the guy once I spent seven hours a day in the same building as him.

So, the first day I ran to get my class schedule and compare it with Marco's.

I looked at the first name."Homeroom—Yes!" We high-fived.

"What period do you have Media Immersion?" Marco looked over at my schedule. "Yes! What about..." He trailed off as he looked up at the person walking over towards us.

Craig looked up."Hey, Ellie. Marco." He looked back down at his phone and typed a number in. My phone immediately began ringing.

I picked it up. "Hello?"

"Ah. I wanted to see if our connection was working." Craig flipped his phone shut and walked away.

I slowly closed my phone.

"So. Who do you have for history?"


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I don't own any Degrassi characters.

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen**

I trudged into Media Immersion, feeling like crawling into a corner and dying, and sat down at the computer next to Marco.

"I hate life."

"No, you hate Craig."

"That too." I plopped my head down on my computer's keyboard, spelling "h78uy6" in the address bar.

Then Craig walked into the room. Just to cheer me up. He sat down at the computer across from me, propped his head up on his fist, and wiggled his fingers at me. Despite myself, I grinned shyly. Encouraged by this, he made his fingers walk across his hand, made a fist then dragged it down, flipped up three fingers, made a peace sign, and gave me a thumbs up. I smiled. I couldn't believe he remembered! Then, all of a sudden, an instant message popped up on my screen.

marcoateyourpeanutbutter: Wait. You guys have hand signals? WE don't even have hand signals!

I suddenly remembered I wasn't supposed to be grinning. I quickly changed my expression to an annoyed one.

the_Nash_who_stole_Ellie: It's nothing. It doesn't matter anymore.

I closed the IM screen and ignored Craig.

I browsed through my e-mail, checking if M.I.A. Ashley decided to start e-mailing me again. I didn't see anything at first. I started to worry. The last time I talked to her, I told her that I was hanging out with Craig. Maybe she had read between the lines. Maybe my guilt is more obvious than I thought.

But, no. My suspicions left me when I found an e-mail from her. I looked up at the ceiling, thanking God. When I looked back down, Craig was staring right at me. We locked eyes for a second.

_Nope._ I thought. _I'll have to wait until later to read this. No matter how much it's killing me, I have to wait. I just can't think of Ash while I'm thinking of him. It hurts._

I minimized my e-mail just as Mr. Simpson walked in.

"Okay, everybody, how was your summer? Get lots of sun? Good. Because today we'll be learning about the use of tan people in advertisements. Now, when you think of tan skin..."

* * *

Ellie looked at her watch. "Oh my gosh, Marco, I'm going to be late to history!" She gathered all of her books. "Why'd I have to get the hardass?" she mumbled as she left.

I shook my head and then realized she left her e-mail up. Ooh, an e-mail from the elusive, hasn't-e-mailed-in-a-week-Ash! Curiosity was taking the better of me. Good Marco, Bad Marco, Good Marco, Bad Marco...okay, Bad Marco wins. I opened up the e-mail.

_Hmm...good...good...hoooooooold up. _I scrolled down to the bottom of the message, where Ashley had put a picture of her wrapped around a guy who _was not _Craig. It was Ali, AKA Alistair, AKA the reason she's staying in England.

I felt a hand on the back of my chair. "Is that...Ashley?"

I turned my head sideways. Craig peeped over my shoulder.

We looked at eachother.

_Oh crap._


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters in this story.

**Chapter Seventeen**

I repeated the sentence in my head until it got a concise mantra-type feel to it.

_I will not fall for Craig's bullcrap again._

_I will not believe Craig's crap again._

_I will not believe Craig's crap. _

Ah, there's that catchy, easy-to-repeat nugget I was looking for. Now say it.

_I won't believe Craig's crap. I won't believe Craig's crap. I won't believe Craig's crap. _

Now mean it.

I sighed. Gah. This was always the hard part. I keep telling myself that, in time, I'll just get over him. But time won't get on and neither will I.

I hurried distractedly out of my history class and ran right smack into, you guessed it, Craig, AKA Craig-kill-your-heart, AKA the reason I was distracted in the first place.

"Ellie! Good. I _need_ to talk to you." He looked at the rest of the class, shuffling out behind me. "Alone."

"No, you don't." I muscled my way through the crowd and managed to make it to the Zen Garden. Unfortunately, so did Kill Your Heart.

"Yes, Ellie. Please." He grabbed my arm and jerked it so I was facing him. "A minute, Ellie. That's all I'll take."

"Fine. You want to talk. Let me go first. I don't know what you did to me this summer, and I don't know how you tricked me into..." I let out an angry breath and looked at him like, _Okay, you know what I did. _"But the point is you did. So now you can go home and chalk up another dumb girl who fell for your smoke and mirrors."

"Ellie," He tried to interject, but I kept right on going.

"Don't deny it, Craig. You think you're all cool, throwing girls away like gum that loses it's flavor. And why would you go for the easy ones when you could have a challenge! You go try to earn girls' trust and make them feel special. So even though she's just Number Eleven to you, she thinks she actually means something for once. But before you know it, you're messing around with Number Eleven's best friend, soon to be known as Twelve. Well, guess what, Craig! Twelve got you before you could cheat on her. Twelve got you, but she was too late. You already broke her heart." Tears were streaming down my cheeks by now. They were tears of anger, sadness, embarrassment at my sadness, anger at him seeing my embarrassment. I was opening myself up to him again, after he'd hurt me so badly.

"Ellie." He put his hand on my cheek. It felt hot there, my whole face went hot. I told myself I hated the feeling. I grabbed his wrist and tried pulling his hand off. I kept tugging at his wrist, trying to get him to move it, but to no avail. The whole thing was so annoying and aggrivating and stupid that I started full-on crying. I fell into him and he held me tight as I cried. He took advantage of my inability to talk.

"Ellie. I do not move from girl to girl. I've only made one mistake, one time, and I deeply regret it."

"Two." I mumbled into his t-shirt.

He shook his head. "The only other mistake I made was hurting you. Just...hear me out, El. I never lied to you."

"You lied to Ashley." I looked up at him.

"I wasn't lying to you." He repeated, his eyes serious. "I love you, Ellie. I wasn't lying about that."

"And I thought I loved you, too, Craig. But you can't hurt Ashley and I can't hurt Ashley and Ashley will be here any day now and you two will be together and you two will be in love and our summer never would've happened and we can _go on with our lives_."

He stayed quiet after this. He just looked into the distance, his eyes the size of dinner plates, like he was having a freaking epiphany.

No comeback? Okay, well then, I'll go on. I took a deep breath and collected myself. "So, please, Craig. Let me go." I pulled away from him, but he kept his hold on my arm.

"Ellie..." His face looked pained, as if he were trying to figure out the theory of relativity rather than decide whether to let go of me or not. He looked up at me with huge, honest eyes and said one thing before he let go of my arm. "I wasn't lying."

_I will not believe Craig's crap._


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

I turned around and walked away after that. Straight into the ladies' room, where I cleaned the mascara off my face. Marco was outside waiting for me. I'm guessing he saw a flash of red dash into the bathroom and was all, _That's the "Help Needed" signal! Marco to the rescueeeeeeeeee!_ Love that guy. I considered making a "only befriend gay boys because all other boys are evil" pact when he handed me a tissue and gave me a hug. I put it aside to consider later.

"Ellie..." He shook his head as he hugged me and led me back into the Zen Garden, which Craig had already vacated. We sat down on a bench and he looked at me. By now, the sobs had stopped, but my face was still tear-streaked. "What did he tell you?"

I started to get up from the bench, "Marco, you're going to be late..."

"Screw class, My best friend is in emotional distress!" I looked at him. "I have a bird course next. Did he tell you about Ashley?"

I looked up at him, "Ashley?" I said with more than a hint of surprise.

"Oh no." He tried reading my face, and saw that I had no idea what he was talking about. "He...didn't tell you?"

"Marco, I just told him off and then left. What about Ashley?" I was getting impatient.

"Uh...maybe it would be better for...Craig...uh." He started getting up. "Maybe I should be getting to class..."

I yanked his arm and he fell on the bench beside me. "What. About. Ashley." I demanded.

"Okay!" He pulled his arm away and looked in a different direction, obviously feeling awkward. "Well, you know how things happen over the summer..."


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any characters portrayed in this story.

**Chapter Nineteen**

It was about four thirty when the Grapevine meeting ended. I had stayed behind to lock up while everyone else ran to beat the worse part of the storm.

I took the key out of the lock and turned to face an empty hallway. I shivered and walked to the doors. A big gust of wind blew back at me as I pulled the door open.

I walked outside and there he was. Freaking relentless. Soaking wet with rain battering down on him, Craig came towards me.

"Forget your umbrella?" He asked.

I ignored him and kept walking. Which was very hard considering that what Marco told me was eating away at my insides.

"Me too." He walked besides me. "...As you can see." He gestured to his sopping presence.

"I didn't drive either. So, here I am."

There was a bit of silence and then I started talking before my conscious mind had processed words."Well, while you're here, they wanted me to interview you for the Grapevine."

"Sure, ask away." Craig shrugged.

I turned around and walked backwards so I was facing him. "Are rumors of you wanting to start your band back up true?"

"Yes, I believe that once we work through a few details, Downtown Sasquatch will live again."

"Okay, and would you say that you were inspired by your stepfather's highschool band to start a band?"

"Uh, Joey played his old cassettes for me over and over when I was a kid, if that counts for anything."

I looked him in the eyes. "Is what Marco told me true?"

"About what?" He knew what I was talking about, I could see it in his eyes. He just wanted to hear me ask.

I turned back into my reporter voice. "That your girlfriend has confirmed she is staying in England for the rest of the semester, thus making you one of the most eligible bachelors at Degrassi?"

"Yes." I could hear each individual raindrop splash against the sidewalk in the palpable silence that followed that three-letter word. "Does that change anything?"

I stopped walking and took a moment. I shook my head.

We walked side by side for a while without talking. The rain was cold. I shivered. Craig put his arm around my shoulders. A perfectly brotherly thing to do. We stopped outside my apartment building.

I stood up on my tippy-toes and kissed him. A good-bye kiss.

"Does that change anything?" He asked as I backed away.

I smiled to myself and shook my head. Then I turned around and walked towards the lobby door.

"Maybe." I said quietly before shutting the door behind me.

I caught one last glimpse of him before the door closed.

He was trying to hide a smile.

_Substitute Friends Forever._

THE END.

or is it the beginning? ;)


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